Building Back A Rapport With Office Employees
The vaccination program across the world has been taking hold for the past few months. Now that signs are looking good, you may be wondering when it is time to return to the office? Lots of professionals and business owners are all thinking the same thing.
We must not be too hasty as working from home has taken some time to get used to, and it won’t suddenly be dropped. Business owners should start to think about their employee policies for wellness, progression, and influence. This is what will ultimately get them back to the office and allow your business to take off from where it left.
Wellness and enjoyment
It’s no fun being at work when you’re not enjoying what you do. Even if employees like each other and get on well, if they don’t approve of their working environment, it will always drag. So, for wellness and enjoyment, we recommend that you have monthly or weekly office games. Even if they are during the lunch break, get employees to engage in fun games at work.
Order some food in via a catering service for offices, who makes sandwiches, snacks, etc. This could break the ice with managers and workers, bridging the gap closer for more cooperation. For enjoyment, you should allow employees to work in different areas of their profession, such as changing places with another employee once in a while to see if they like doing something new.
The office itself
Now is the best time to change the office decor. You want them to come into work, totally shocked and impressed with the place’s new design. Change the seats, desks, and wall designs. You should also make it more comfortable with something like an Ecosense air conditioning unit.
This is a smart unit that can be controlled and customized, so your employees don’t feel too hot or too cold. You may also want to add something living or something that feels like it’s living. A grandfather clock that swings its pendulum is a great choice, but also, plants! Plants are a great way to freshen up the place without busting the bank.
More opportunity to Influence 
Employees should have more chances to impact the office policy and work policy as well. This could be by setting up a threshold of reaching a number of recommendations via anonymously written letters, or occasional votes, for how the office should look and feel.
You could change office mascots and themes every financial quarter (so every 3 months). However, influence is by far the biggest area in which change needs to happen. Employees should be able to have their voices heard by managers to approach a task in a way that is best for the team. This can be done via voting or just by reading the mood of the room.
Bringing employees back into the office is going to be like dragging a horse to water. You can bring them back, but you can’t make them enjoy it. But these tips may serve you better than most in achieving the latter.
